American Rhetorical Discourse, Third Edition continues to build on the success of previous editions. This expanded collection reflects the diversity, significance, and method of speakers throughout American history by illuminating the evolution and accomplishment of rhetorical practice in American society. Rhetorical discourse engages the concerns that define public life, revealing a record of responses to the American experience that enrich the possibilities for future rhetoric. The variety of speakers in this volume emulates a spectrum of achievement and influence throughout American discourse. Each of the discourses presented in this distinguished collection is preceded by an informative and provocative commentary. These commentaries provide biographical information on the speaker, locate the speech in its historical time, and sketch the rhetorical situation to set the speech into its historical context. By highlighting the content of individual discourses, each commentary creates a solid basis for students to enlarge their understanding of history, broaden their perspective on the importance of the rhetorical moment, and improve their own rhetorical skills. The combination of commentary and speech provides an opportunity to explore a more sensitive analysis of a discourse, engaging and connecting the reader to the power and momentum of rhetoric.

Introduces new scholars to interdisciplinary research by utilizing bibliographical surveys of both primary and secondary works that address the history of rhetoric, from the Classical period to the 21st century.

This is an interesting and inspiring collection of history vignettes, one for each day of the year. Well-known national holidays and achievements are recalled in detail as well as facts of courage, sacrifice, and captivating American trivia.

Plain-speaking Harry S Truman is assessed for his presidential rhetoric in this in-depth critical analysis that provides texts of major speeches and material useful to researchers in presidential libraries.

This compelling text is a careful examination of the rhetoric of dissent. The Rhetoric of Agitation and Control provides a framework for the study of agitation and responses to that agitation. The third edition offers a profile of past and current movements, such as the street theatre of Chicago in 1968 and the innovative and technological rhetorical techniques found in the "Battle in Seattle." The modus operandi of todays protests continues to evolve from that of the 1960s and 1970s. As smartphones and the Internet replace tie-dyed shirts and flower power, contemporary students and scholars alike will find this edition of The Rhetoric of Agitation and Control to be a helpful tool in studying the progression of social and protest movements.

A timely collection of essays by prominent scholars in the field—on the past, present, and future of rhetoric instruction. From Isocrates and Aristotle to the present, rhetorical education has consistently been regarded as the linchpin of a participatory democracy, a tool to foster civic action and social responsibility. Yet, questions of who should receive rhetorical education, in what form, and for what purpose, continue to vex teachers and scholars. The essays in this volume converge to explore the purposes, problems, and possibilities of rhetorical education in America on both the undergraduate and graduate levels and inside and outside the academy. William Denman examines the ancient model of the "citizen-orator" and its value to democratic life. Thomas Miller argues that English departments have embraced a literary-research paradigm and sacrificed the teaching of rhetorical skills for public participation. Susan Kates explores how rhetoric is taught at nontraditional institutions, such as Berea College in Kentucky, where Appalachian dialect is espoused. Nan Johnson looks outside the academy at the parlor movement among women in antebellum America. Michael Halloran examines the rhetorical education provided by historical landmarks, where visitors are encouraged to share a common public discourse. Laura Gurak presents the challenges posed to traditional notions of literacy by the computer, the promises and dangers of internet technology, and the necessity of a critical cyber-literacy for future rhetorical curricula. Collectively, the essays coalesce around timely political and cross-disciplinary issues. Rhetorical Education in America serves to orient scholars and teachers in rhetoric, regardless of their disciplinary home, and help to set an agenda for future classroom practice and curriculum design.